Partners?
by Sin of the Fallen
Summary: Unluckily for Lucy Heartfilia, she's been booted off Team Natsu. Yet that doesn't slow down our favorite Celestial mage. Pairing up with Gajeel of all people, the blonde sets out! Getting along with Slayers is tough. How will Lucy fare on their first job together?
1. Sixth Sense

A/N: This is being totally overhauled. Bad grammar and OOCness is just too much.

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><p>Lucy frowned to herself, as she sat at the bar with a glass of icy water in hand. She took a sip. Her free hand brushed and played with her keys, lost in thought.<p>

Lucy thought about herself, her team, Fairy Tail, and planned. She knew that she was the weakest member in her team. She was unable to truly brawl with her enemies like the rest of Team Natsu.

It was something that nagged at her, and it made her doubt herself. Lucy had only vaguely alluded to this fear to Levy and Mirajane, for after the attack from Phantom Lord it had vanished into the dark recesses of her mind. It only reappeared in nightmares. Yet it had come back to haunt her waking world like a persistent ghost no amount of exorcising would rid her of. Lucy was not proud to admit it, but Lisanna's resettlement into Earthland Fairy Tail had triggered this paranoia.

Edolas and other events had made an old night terror grow into a hulking giant, overshadowing everything Lucy did. Being similar to Lisanna did not help. The off hand remarks made by Cana and some of the others about their similarities just made Lucy want to scream and tear at her hair. She could never stand being told she was someone else other than "Lucy." She had deserted a life of leisure and fiancial power for that reason, but her guild members did not seem to understand that.  
>At least somebody had not suddenly thrust Lisanna onto Lucy. Lucy smiled as Hibiki of Blue Pegasus came to mind. She had wrote to the elder mage of her desire to grow stronger to protect her team, desiring to be taught the Urano Metria. He had warned her it would have to be taught the hard way, since Archive Magic worked for such things only once. Lucy had wrote back a simple sentence "I'm not afraid of a little work Hibiki."<p>

It had taken months full of backfiring explosions, ruined clothing and hair, and healing by a certain Sky Dragon Slayer, but Hibiki had managed to teach her the frustrating spell. Lucy's eyes unknowingly gained a vicious look, scaring off the other guild members that had been nearby, remembering how good it had felt to finally cast the spell flawlessly. That rock had been asking for it, mocking her with it's previously unblasted surface.

Lucy's thoughts drifted once again. Edolas had altered the guild she had previously thought was as easy to change as the ocean. The oddest aspect of the entire fiasco was to have seen a cowardly Natsu. It had almost been unnatural, but Lucy could see how the two were still somewhat similar. Needless to say, Lucy never mentioned any parallels she drew between their alternative selves.

Yet it was the revelation that Lisanna had not died that had changed her, Team Natsu, and Fairy Tail. In their glee that the youngest sibling of Mirajane's was alive and home once more, her guild had seemed to forget about her and everyone else that had not known Lisanna previously. Usually this would not trouble Lucy, afterall she had virtually lived alone for so long. But Natsu and Lisanna had been acting… lovey dovey to describe it, and Gray and Ezra had been looking speculatively between her and Lisanna. Lucy knew deep in her bones those looks spelled nothing good for her.

Celestial mages were known for a sixth sense for future events pertaining to them. A well known example of this talent was demonstrated by Karen's increasingly frantic pleas to Loki before her death. And to add to her reliance on this sixth sense, Lucy had experienced it before and it had provided wise advice to heed.

So, being a cautious and wary mage, Lucy had begun storing up money. Began keeping a well stocked travel case ready for whatever was coming. Lucy had also had updated all her papers and put her affairs in order for whatever was coming. She knew it was a little silly to put stock in such vague feelings, but the specter that haunted her every waking moment convinced her. For it whispered that the feeling could not prepare her for the heartbreak the future held for her.

With a sudden crash from the guild's doors, Lucy twitched in surprise. She had been deep in thought, but Lucy knew Natsu had arrived and she turned to greet him. She paused in apprehension when she saw he had his travel pack on, along with Ezra, Gray, and Lisanna.

Her specter rasped a whisper to her,"Time's up, Lucky Lucy."

Natsu, ever so lively, practically raced to Lucy in his excitement. He shouted in her ears loud enough to make her head ring "Luce! Is it alright if we go on a mission with Lisanna?" He was nearly bouncing in place with energy as Lucy perked up. Her rent's deadline was not far off, and more money was always welcomed.

"I'll need to go get my case-" Natsu interrupted her with a sheepish grin and said "We wanted to take on this mission like before Lisanna left, just the four of us, if it's okay."

Lucy felt herself freeze. That specter was screaming "I told you so!" in her psyche, laughing coldly. Her smile grew stiff as Natsu's careless words washed over her. She looked to Gray and Ezra to see if they were in agreement with Natsu, and they nodded in reply. Lucy felt like her heart was being devoured by the grinning specter, but she smiled and nodded.

Natsu cheered and ran back to his nakama, smiling at the prospect of a tough job. As soon as the new Team Natsu turned their backs, Lucy dropped her smile and studied her now warm water. She had just been replaced, had allowed it without as so much as a whisper.

The specter mocked her, calling her disparaging names like 'weakling' and 'spineless'. Lucy frowned deeply, stood up with nary a word, and exited the guild. No one noticed the blonde mage's odd behavior, not even Mirajane, except the Iron Slayer. Blood red eyes trailed the celestial mage under furrowed brows, his instincts telling him that this had been an important moment. Even if he had paid no attention to the conversation between Natsu and the blonde.

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><p>Lucy strode into the guild the next day in an outfit that drew everyone's stares.<p>

It was not that it was low cut, or revealing. That was normal Lucy attire after all. It was that it was disturbingly casual for someone who prided herself on her looks.

She was in a modest blue tee-shirt, black shorts, and plain black boots. A travel case was in hand, Keys hooked to her belt, and her whip was coiled by her side. Lucy had a slight frown on her face, and was silent as she moved to the mission board with a purpose. She did not smile, she did not chat, and she did not stop.

Gajeel watched the blonde with an appraising eye; it seemed as if she was going solo for once. But where was that idiot of a Slayer to harass her into joining him, or that stripper or Amazon?

She looked at the board for a long moment, before bypassing the newer postings, hunting for the ones that either had not been picked or had been left incomplete. Lucy must have hunted for a good five minutes before she picked out an old, nearly crumpled parchment and read it. Gajeel raised an eyebrow as her eyes grew large for a moment, and she looked around for someone.

She had not noticed yet that the entire guild was watching her warily. Such behavior was at odds with her usual ways, and no one knew what had caused this. Gajeel watched her curiously as she seemed to make her way to him.

Covertly he checked for any of her usual friends that might be nearby, but he was all alone in his little corner of the guild. No one had the balls to sit near him, and Gajeel prefered it that way. But it begged the question as to why the blonde had the guts after he had tortured her. Sure it had been for business' sake, along with indulging in letting off some steam at such a stupid job, but there was no way the blonde would not take it personally.

Gajeel watched as she plopped down without a word and asked bluntly "What do ya want Bunny Girl?" Gajeel smirked as she glared at him for the nickname he had dubbed her with. If she had not wanted to be called Bunny Girl she should not have worn that outfit, in Gajeel's humble opinion.

She handed him the old paper and asked "I need a partner. This job's gonna be tough, and since Natsu and the others just booted me off the team, I lack the firepower for this job." Gajeel felt his eyebrows shoot up in surprise that the idiot had essentially kicked his medic off the team, before looking at the paper. It was very old, and it had stamped across it "A Class". The words were faded but he could make them out with little difficulty.

"A dangerous artifact was stolen from Aras Ayem's mansion. It was stolen by an unknown monster that was powerful enough to overcome wards set by a Wizard Saint. The mages who take this request must slay the monster and recover the artifact. If it the artifact cannot be recovered it must be destroyed along with the monster.  
>If possible a Celestial Mage or a Dragon Slayer would make a excellent candidate for the destruction of this artifact or it's recovery. The artifact in question is Torque of the World Eater.<br>Contact Aras Ayem for further details in the Ayem mansion near the town of Hargeon about ten miles to the West. The reward for a successful result will be Four Million Jewels and one Key."

Gajeel felt his jaw drop at the reward amount, but the comment about the celestial and Slayer mages had him wary. At least he knew why the blonde had chosen the job now. But why would she even bother trying to partner with him? Hell, Gajeel knew he was a unfriendly jackass and he had even exceeded his normal limits with torturing her. He snorted at how weird this blonde was, but he need some answers before even beginning to consider this. The only reason he was considering this craziness was the fact he needed a lot of cash fast, since he had eaten through his own rent fund trying to buy iron.

Gajeel ground out "Why are ya even bothering to ask me Blonde? I did hunt ya across this town, used you as bait, and then tortured ya for the hell of it."

Lucy screwed up her face in distaste. "One, if Master thought there was something in you that was worth all of the hassle, I'm betting it's pretty damn amazing. Master hates having to deal with the  
>Council, and he had to kiss a lot of ass to get you and Juvia."<p>

She ticked off her reasons, leaning in towards him. He was finding this both surreal and amusing in just how fearless she was being. "Two, this job asks for a Dragon Slayer so I figure I need one. Since the one I usually deal with has left me out to dry, I figured you wouldn't mind some cash. And finally, as for the torturing, I can't really hold it against you too much. I mouthed off to a mage ready to kill someone over his frustration, and I got my lesson served to me."  
>She grinned suddenly, before cupping a hand around her mouth to keep her words a secret. "Plus, you're not the only sadist in the Guild. Ezra's scarier and more painful."<p>

Gajeel grinned at her with all his pointy teeth, just like a shark. Bunny Girl had guts, even if she was about as mean and harmful as your average dandelion. He could humor her, especially since Lily had taken a long job.

"Deal. But I'm the boss. You'll play support and saboteur roles, got it? We'll split the reward sixty forty and you'll keep your Key." He expected her to blow her cool at his terms but was surprised when she grabbed his hand with a grin and said

"Welcome aboard partner. As long as you use your head I'll let you take the reigns. But the first sign of Natsu-like stupidity I'm kicking your ass back to Magnolia!" He barked a laugh. Bunny Girl kicking his ass? Ha!

"Do you need to let Levy know where you're going ?"

She just had to go there, didn't she?

Gajeel growled menacingly before saying in a low voice "No." Lucy's eyes showed surprise before she nodded and asked "Do you need anything from your place?" Gajeel stood up from his seat while shaking his head. "Come on then. There should be a train in twenty minutes."

Gajeel followed after Lucy, ignoring the stares the odd duo got. Suddenly he had to ask "Blonde, is this one time only or are you gonna stick with me?" Gajeel wanted to know where he stood on the matter with the odd blonde. She did just walk up and offer him a partnership without really knowing him, regardless of the fact they were nakama.

Lucy looked at him with a hint of mischievousness, lighting up eyes he had not noticed till then were so dark, and replied "Dunno. Let's see shall we?" Gajeel snorted in amusement once more. He could see just what the others meant about her being 'cute', and walked after her.


	2. Scary

A/N: Italics without quotations are thoughts!

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><p>Lucy crossed her arms and glared at Gajeel. Honestly, even Natsu was not as stubborn as this man! She fumed lightly. Who was he to make fun of her music?<p>

Lucy Heartfilia and Gajeel Redfox had been engaged in a heated staring contest for quite some time. Sparks were crackling from the lightning jumping between their eyes. The train conductor had scurried off without even checking their tickets, they had looked so terrifying! Though they had had their tickets, and they were legitimate, of course.

What could have caused such dissention in the ranks so early into their very first journey? There was only one thing Gajeel would bother to argue about with her. Music!

Gajeel Redfox loved music; everyone at Fairy Tail knew this. He played the guitar and wrote his own songs. Hell he had even put on that white suit and sang for the guild! With Lucy as his dancing eye-candy in her memorable bunny outfit, it had been a smash hit in his opinion. Gajeel disregarded how the people had been cringing.

However Gajeel had very selective tastes in music. Plus he would violently oppose those who slandered those precious favorites. Or try and convert them to his point of view if he did not feel like beating the hell out of them.

Lucy Heartfilia on the other hand was a musical jack of all trades; she liked almost every genre out there, excluding rap. Lucy claimed that she loved just about everything since she had favorite songs in almost every genre. However, Gajeel was devoted to rock and roll and it's siblings.

Both were stubborn to a fault, refusing to budge. And since they were nakama, they could not try and pound the opposer into the ground till they agreed to their point of view. That little detail tossed out most Fairy Tail tactics in convincing others to change their viewpoints. Well that and they had already found they had other similar interests in other, less volatile areas.

Gajeel tried his best death glare on the gutsy blonde. Damn her! Why isn't she cowering yet? He gritted his teeth.

"Blonde, I don't get how you stomach that fucking trash that all the new so called 'artists' produce! It's worthless lip singing with synthesized music, no talent required! It's shit!" Lucy had threatened to tell Ezra something horrible so she would pulverize the Iron Slayer and every time he cursed, or did not refer to her by her name often. But Gajeel had snorted before calling her bluff, stating that "Yeah right Bunny Girl. You're not mean enough to do that." She had pouted before admitting he was right. Her forgiving nature did not make for excellent threat credibility.

Lucy grunted in frustration, a strange sight coming from the usually proper girl. Gajeel had this talent for pulling out the vulgarity in her, but she could not deny it was not refreshing to be treated like a capable adult.

Lucy finally pulled out her Sound Pod, the latest Lacrima version. It had the Fairy Tail brand on the coverings instead of the optional traditional spikes. The Sound Pod was black in color, with the Fairy Tail brand being a bright pink like her own mark. She had splurged on it as a reward to herself for surviving Oracion Seis.

Lucy jammed it onto Gajeel's pierced head, much to his displeasure, and started playing a random song from her collection. She could hear the song playing very faintly, and identified it as "Turk's Theme." Lucy loved the song. It made her feel quite badass.

"Shut up and listen you metal head. Put aside your bias and listen!"

Gajeel glared at the audacious blonde, but his growing respect for that fiery nature kept his mouth shut. She may not have the physical power he was accustomed, but she was fearless enough to take on one of the S-classed Thunder Tribe and win. It was more than he could say for most of Fairy Tail.

He closed his eyes, to focus better, and did as his fellow mage commanded him. Reluctantly he began to see her point, after ignoring his desire to hear the familiar strains of rock, even starting to enjoy the song a bit. Gajeel pulled off the Sound Pod with a smirk and said "Alright Blonde, maybe you have a point. Now-" Gajeel dropped the smirk and grew serious.

"Do you know anything about this 'Torque of the World Eater'?" Lucy grimaced, pulling out a Light Pen to help her out. She pulled off the cap and began to narrate as she drew, much to Gajeel's amusement. She was so serious as she drew her kiddy drawings.

"The Torque is one of the lesser known ancient artifacts. No one knows who created it, though most believe it is one of Zeref's lost works. The Torque is a necklace that looks like one of the mythical wingless dragons."

Gajeel's eyebrows rose into his mane of hair when he saw the drawing of the mythical type of dragon. Metallicana had not looked anything like the wingless and ribbon like drawing in front of him.

"It's made of some sort of black metal, and it has an unknown type of red Lacrima inset in the dragon's eyes. People have speculated its eyes might be the Lacrima of a Fire Dragon, though no one knows for certain." She paused, finished with her drawing. She had drawn a circle, and a figure of himself and her. His caricature had spiky hair, feathers, and pointy teeth. Gajeel grinned at it, and blinked in surprise as it gave him a thumbs up.

"There's little information on the Torque since it's rarely been used. So most of the lore about it is speculation. All I could dig up on it was that it's Lost Magic, and it does what it's name implies. It 'eats'." Gajeel watched warily as she shivered at the word "eat". Obviously it was not pleasant, but Gajeel wondered if she was just being squeamish.

"The Torque requires a sacrifice to activate it; a human sacrifice. Once it's activated it begins to…devour its surroundings. Supposedly it gouged out a crater so big, Magnolia could fit in it with room to spare in Bosco. This was hundreds of years ago, so no one is certain as what caused it to occur. It's a lake now. You might have heard of it. It's called Lake Lilium."

Gajeel grew rigid as he realized just what they were getting into. He had heard of the lake from one of Phantom Lord's lackeys. It was the deepest lake in Bosco's territory and of any known lake, going down to about roughly four thousand feet and having a surface area of near three thousand feet.

And it was just Bunny Girl and him, going after a artifact that could create that gigantic lake...

"Gajeel…" Lucy gulped in unbridled fear. "The Torque only had one sacrifice."

Gajeel grew grave as he thought about how much damage the necklace, could do with the deaths of multiple people. One human death equaled the destructive range of a Lake Lilium. Every dark guild would war over such an object. Fuck! Why the hell is this a A-class mission? God damnit! This Aras has fucked over the wrong Slayer!

Pissed beyond measure, this made him wonder just how strong this monster had to be in order to get past the protections of a Wizard Saint. Plus whatever else this Aras might have had in place. Which again begged the question of why this had been classed as a fucking A-class mission!

But... Gajeel had to smirk at such a prospect. This was the challenge of challenges. Gajeel was going to get some fan-fucking-tastic fights if this Torque was any indication. Oh yeah, he could get behind this!

It was a good thing he had Bunny Girl though. He did not want to have been the idiot that walked into such a clusterfuck unprepared. Lily was going to be so pissed he missed out on this.

But really, Natsu had really screwed up by letting his medic go. Gajeel though, was more than happy to snatch up a free medic. Hell, Rolf had been the most sought after guy in Phantom Lord because he could cover everything for his partner. All Rolf's partner had to do was fight, never having to worry about medical supplies, sleeping arrangements, or transportation. Even Gajeel had not minded teaming up with him alongside Juvia.

Not to forget, Gajeel remembered the difference between Ezra, Gray, or Natsu returning from a solo mission or after a team mission with Lucy. Lucy was Fairy Tail's Rolf. She had the brains of her usual Team's outfit, and took care of the million and one things that sheer magical might could not touch. Maybe he could convince the girl to join on with him and Pantherlily, if she proved as capable as he thought she was. Sure she annoyed the piss out of him, but damn if she was not handy.

Gajeel grinned ferally at the worried blonde and asked "Any reason why a Slayer or a Celestial mage would be best for this job?" Lucy frowned and seemed to go into deep thought as she replied,

"No offense, but the Celestial World is tied to ours in ways only a celestial mage understands. No one notices, but magic from the Celestial World constantly flows in and out of Earthland and vice versa. After all, we're dependent on the Sun, which is a star. Earthland's magic helps to stabilize the Celestial World."

She closed her eyes, and Gajeel stared at her intently. He was surprised she would take her eyes off him so soon. "As far as I can guess, with the old account I found, the Torque might be the antithesis to celestial magic."

Gajeel interrupted quickly before she could start the tangent he saw forming. "Layman's terms?"

Lucy sighed and started messing with the drawing of Gajeel, herself, and a glowing circle he guessed was the activated Torque. "In layman's terms it'd probably be called Void Magic, since it 'eats' its surroundings."

The circle ate the Lucy image, and then started eating the Gajeel image. "Luckily for us, the Torque's dormant for the moment. And it has a set area it can 'devour' per sacrifice. Thankfully we won't have to guess the exact range due to Lake Lilium's existence."

The circle suddenly stopped eating the half eaten Gajeel image, as though it had run out of fuel. Gajeel suddenly smirked, amused, as his image self began to angrily punch the now immobile circle.

"My guess is that if the Torque is the antithesis of celestial magic, celestial magic could neutralize it." Gajeel could smell that upcoming "but." "Or it could set off a negative reaction and kill us all and destroy all of Earthland."

Gajeel felt a shiver go down his spine at how she said that with such a cheery tone, sometimes he felt Ezra was less scary than the blonde and this proved him right. But God damn if the Blonde was not kind of sexy when she was being terrifying. As soon as the thought crossed his mind he killed it and buried it in a shallow and unmarked grave.

He watched in a terror induced trance as the words Lucy had written, 'Celestial' and 'Void', blurred into each other and then exploded, erasing the word 'Earthland' that had been written in large letters. Lucy kept smiling as she continued.

"There's a fifty fifty chance that the Torque will either be neutralized or explode. So that explains my request. As for you…well Slayers are destructive. Going by the information we have right now, that's it in a nutshell." Gajeel watched in silent amusement as the half eaten Gajeel then tore apart the circle with his bare hands, smirked, and pulled out his lower body and a smiling Lucy image. "You know, Lucy, you're scarier than Ezra sometimes." She smiled sweetly "Thanks!", and then gasped in shock. "Gajeel! You said my name!"

Gajeel looked away from her and refused to acknowledge her silly triumphant grin.

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><p>Back at Fairy Tail, Mirajane looked between the request board and the piece of paper she clutched between her hands in a death grip.<p>

She looked at a trembling Jet and Droy, and asked in her menacingly sweet voice "Are you sure Gajeel and Lucy left for this mission?"

They trembled and yelped in unison. Mirajane was scary! "Yes! We picked the paper up from the table they were at, after they left!"

Mirajane felt her breath quicken in fear for the odd new duo. She raced upstairs recklessly, and threw open the door to Makarov's office, surprising the small elderly man. She panted lightly, pushing away the errant pieces of hair that had become disheveled during her flight while leaning against the doorframe.

"Master! Lucy and Gajeel have taken a misclassed mission!"

Makarov -who had been leisurely throwing darts at a picture of what looked suspiciously like the symbol for the Magic Council- straightened to his full diminutive height and gave Mirajane a serious look. "Mirajane how could this happen?"

"There was an old request and it had been buried under more recent requests. It was termed between a high A Class and low S Class mission at first, but when Freed and Bixlow failed in their attempts to complete it you transferred it to the mission pile you'd give to Gildarts or Mystogan. However-" Her voice grew strained "It seems we missed a flyer and Lucy found it."

Makarov paled and asked quickly in a similarly strained voice "Has Lucy and Gajeel left yet?" But before he could address the situation he had to ask, "And why is Lucy with Gajeel, and not Team Natsu? She has never taken any mission without Natsu and Happy, and I was unaware anyone besides Juvia approached Gajeel."

Mirajane shrugged helplessly. She had no answers for her concerned Master. "I don't know Master. Lucy was acting strangely this morning, but I was distracted by one of Cana's mishaps." The card mage had tottered over to the bar soon after Lucy had walked in, and promptly vomited all over the bar and Mirajane's clothes.

But Mirajane reprimanded herself silently. She was supposed to be her Master's eyes and ears, and she had failed. Mirajane frowned deeply. "Lucy and Gajeel left almost at once and by now should be approaching Hargeon." Would the Thunder Tribe be a wise choice to send as backup? Or wait for the rest of Team Natsu?

"And as for why she's not with Team Natsu…Lisanna told me that she would be taking Lucy's place for a mission like they did before she fell into Edolas." Mirajane gasped in shock as she had an epiphany. "Lucy must have seen it as though Lisanna was replacing her!"

Makarov gained a sad look on his face and said quietly "My children sometimes can be quite dense. I doubt they even noticed what effect their actions had on our celestial mage." He shook his head in disappointment. "Mirajane when is the new Team Natsu due back?"

Mirajane jerked in sympathy for how Lucy must have felt, when Makarov put it that way. "They should be back by later this evening Master. The job was close and it was an easy Jewel making job." Makarov commanded Mirajane in a grave tone "Send them to me as soon as they get in Mirajane. And Mirajane?"

He asked in a loud voice as she turned made to exit his office "Which job did Lucy and Gajeel take, exactly?" Mirajane gulped and said in a whisper "The retrieval or destruction of the Torque of the World Eater." Makarov's face grew even more serious as Mirajane left the room. This job had only a very small chance of survival for the two mages, but that was more than anyone who was not a celestial mage or Slayer.

A small chance, was better than none after all.


	3. At Risk

Gajeel stepped off the train with a fierce grin on his face, excited that they were in the final leg of the trip.

After he had recovered from his scare from Lucy's antics, Gajeel and his new partner had tried to get to know one another. Well, Blonde did since he was not a social person. But she had managed to pester some information out of him, even if she would occasionally flip out over the little things. Again, she demonstrated why Natsu persisted in calling her "Weirdo."

It turned out they both liked science fiction novels, even though Lucy drifted more towards romance much to Gajeel's distaste. Lucy had flipped out that Gajeel read at all, amusing him, before muttering to herself "Of course he can read! He does have to read the job flyers after all!" Honestly, she was annoying in her cheerful questioning but her reactions were a riot.

It also turned out they thought their nakama should be trussed up for the nearest insane asylum. He of course included her, citing her willingness to partner up with "The flame retard, stripper, and crazy Amazon bitch." She had then retorted in pointing out what she called his "obvious Exceed fixation he fulfilled with the addition of Pantherlily." They had glowered at each other, with Lucy reaching out to kick him in the leg, before returning to the now mutual pestering.

Lucy had a slight addiction to roulette and poker, while he had become a closet poker player due to his need for cash. Lucy had pulled out a battered set of cards, and they then set to playing while talking. Gajeel enjoyed it since Lucy was actually pretty good at the game.

"Two Pair." "Fuck you Gajeel." "Fork it over Bunny Girl, you should've folded."

And their one shared favorite color was red. Gajeel said it reminded him of battle and Lucy cited her mother's rose garden. They did rub each other the wrong way when it came to fighting though. They had wandered onto battle tactics, knowing that they needed at least a general feel of their partners' battle mind. They both agreed on that they would lay down their lives for their nakama and family, and understood that their fighting styles were radically different. Lucy always fought with a partner and took on the saboteur role, and Gajeel was the battering ram.

But Lucy and Gajeel bitterly disputed about 'tactical retreats'. Gajeel took the same stance as much of Fairy Tail, in which retreat was solely for cowards and weaklings who could not hold their own. Lucy disputed that retreat was a sound tactic and held to the saying 'Run away to live another day'. Both determinedly held their ground, but the other managed to convince their partner over the hours and rounds of poker that there was some merit.

Lucy also disputed with his stance on the Magic Council, very quietly since it could be disastrous if someone told the Council and they formed the wrong assumptions. She knew he had been apart of a dark guild once- how could she not- but he really needed to keep those opinions to himself. Unless he had a burning desire to join Jellal in prison.

Lucy simply stated it was better to have the enemy you knew instead of total anarchy, and Gajeel had only snorted. Gajeel had then proceeded to point to Fairy Tail's evidence Jellal's innocence had been tossed out in her precious Council, along with trouncing her in a few rounds. She must have lost two hundred in those couple rounds.

All in all they got along quite well for people who had only known the other's name a few hours ago.

Lucy shot a smile at the grinning Gajeel; Slayers did not like transport much, even if Natsu was the only one with motion sickness. As they moved through Gargeon, after asking for directions from a kind shop keeper, Lucy noticed an odd phenomena occurring to her partner. It was so odd she stopped in the middle of the street without noticing it, letting Gajeel get several feet away before he realized she had stopped.

"What didja stop for Blonde? We got places to be damnit!" Lucy pointed to several black feathers that littered the area "I didn't know Slayers molt. Is it that time of year for you Gajeel?" Gajeel felt his face blush heavily as he ignored her questions and loudly stated in his embarrassment "Help me pick them up you fucking moron!" Lucy snickered and started to pick up the numerous feathers. It took them five minutes to find them all, and Lucy opened her tidily packed case and took out a large handkerchief which she wrapped around the feathers.

Once she had carefully wrapped up the feathers, she stowed them away in the case alongside the reluctantly given feathery raiment. Gajeel did not stop blushing until they left Hargeon and refused to speak, much to Lucy's amusement.

They rented a SE-plug vehicle to conserve time, since they did not want to be walking for the entire day, with Gajeel driving it. Gajeel proved to be a capable driver, not a speed demon maniac like Ezra, and Lucy enjoyed the ride for the first time.

She felt her eyes momentarily sting at the reminder she had been replaced with Lisanna by her beloved teammates. Honestly though, she was surprised they had had her stay with them so long anyways. After all, she had been added to the team only at the last minute by Mirajane. Not Ezra, Gray, or even Natsu.

The trio could easily function without her. She could not think of anything she contributed to their jobs, besides taking care of the minor details for them. Lucy sighed, dismissed her negative thoughts, and leaned out the window to shout at Gajeel "You've done this before right?"

He shouted back "Once, when everyone else was drunk off their asses! Why?" Lucy could not decide what that meant about Ezra's skills since she had so much practice in driving the SE-plug vehicle. Plus this was only Gajeel's second time, and he was better at it.

Lucy decided it was something that should be saved for a rainy day, when she had nothing to do and Ezra was not around. Gajeel shouted to her "We're almost there! You ready Bunny Girl?" "Of course!"

* * *

><p>Ezra Scarlet was ready to kill someone, preferably her entire team.<p>

This mission was supposed to have been simple and fun. Just like old times.

The mission had been simple at the beginning. Just the standard bandit catching. These bandits supposedly did not even have a mage. Nothing could be easier, not even finding a lost item or pet.

At first everything had been going perfectly. The proverbial birds were singing and it was a cloudless, temperate day. Gray and Natsu had gotten along well enough, and Natsu and Lisanna had been acting like children in love again. After half an hour of walking though, it had gone all to hell.

Gray and Natsu had exploded over something so trivial she could not remember it now. She had unconsciously waited for Lucy to knock sense into them. Lucy was remarkably capable of keeping Fairy Tail's most volatile duo under wraps, and Ezra had taught her the best way she knew. When the fight had not been halted before the duo really got going, she was shocked until she remembered Lucy was not here.

Even worse, Lisanna had taken Natsu's side. Whenever someone took a side in this traditional pre-brawl banter, it always got so much worse. The somewhat friendly brawl had escalated into a full out war. It had taken hours to calm the, after Natsu inadvertently insulted Lisanna, three way fight before they could continue on their mission. She had beaten them all within an inch of their lives for such behavior.

Ezra's short temper had been only millimeters from snapping, and she grew hurt when Lucy did not try to help her contain the situation. Until Ezra remembered belatedly that Lucy was back in Magnolia. And it only got worse from there on out.

Ezra winced as she remembered how the 'bandits' ambushed them with magical scripture and speed magic. She had never had been taken so off guard before. Those bandits had turned out to be former mercenaries lead by wily dark mages. Normally, this would not have caused any of Team Natsu a problem even with the unwelcome surprise. But all of them were tired and exhausted from their earlier brawl.

Neither of them were in the mood to cooperate with their teammates. It nearly cost them the fight, and their lives. Ezra took on the scripture mage, who turned out to be as sly as a fox and twice as hard to hit. Gray took on the mercenaries and Natsu took on the speed mage with Lisanna covering Gray. There was at least thirty of them, and they were trained enough to cause Gray some trouble even with Lisanna's help. Traditionally that would be Lucy's place, along with whoever she chose to summon, but Lucy was in Magnolia. That had been Ezra's mistake.

Ezra had been embroiled in her fight with the scripture mage, trying to find a loophole in the Script. Gray had been backed into a tight corner, and then Natsu was knocked down by the speed mage. Lisanna abandoned Gray to help Natsu. Ezra supposed it was a reflex ingrained into Lisanna from Edolas' Natsu's cowardice outside his vehicle, but whatever reason had prompted it caused Gray to take on heavy wounds.

Ezra had finished off the distracted scripture mage and quickly took care of the remaining bandits, before turning her unbridled fury on Lisanna. She had screamed at the girl, no woman, about how she needed to have more faith in her nakama and now Gray was injured due to her irresponsible actions. Even Natsu, who had jumped up only half a minute after being knocked down, agreed stonily with Ezra.

He had quietly said "My name is Natsu Dragneel, not Natsu Dragion." before turning to help bandage Gray's knew they had been harsh, but if Gray was not such an accomplished mage... Fairy Tail would be planning a burial.

Though they were all furious with Lisanna, all of them keenly felt the space where Lucy should have been. When Ezra pulled out the heavy duty surgical kit she did not remember packing, she could not help but smile as she found a guidebook inside. The guidebook had been written in Lucy's neat handwriting, and it's instructions guided her in the task Lucy usually took care of. Gray had grown quiet, as well as Natsu, when he saw the guidebook and had quietly commented,

"Lucy always thinks of everything, doesn't she? Who else would take the time to pack this kit and write a frigging handbook?" Natsu had turned a bit sad and muttered affectionately "Weirdo." Happy had smiled at seeing the booklet in Ezra's steady hands. The Exceed had not said a word to anyone all day, and had not smiled either. Perhaps she should have noticed that beforehand.

None had noticed how Lisanna seemed to wilt once she saw Natsu acting so affectionately for the absent blonde. The four silently told themselves they would show their rediscovered appreciation for the celestial mage, once they got back. Perhaps a vacation-like job?

They rushed to deliver the scorched, frostbitten, and hacked up bandits to the local jail where they collected their reward. Ezra even rented a SE-plug vehicle in order to speed their way to the guild. Lisanna did not say a word the entire time, lost in thought. No one noticed, but Lisanna noticed how they did not notice.

With Ezra's speed they made it back to Magnolia in under an hour, though the other passengers felt they should have contacted their lawyers to confirm their wills. The four made their way to the guild as quickly as Natsu, Gray's complaining human crutch, could move with Gray. Lisanna trailed in their wake.

Natsu slammed open the doors for them, and they scanned eagerly for the blonde mage only to be met by a stern Mirajane. They were confused as to why Mirajane was frowning but she raised a hand to forestall their questions. "The Master needs to see you right now."

Erza, Natsu, and Gray exchanged wary looks while Happy flew over to Charlie to try and win her over once more. Lisanna made to go with the three, but Mirajane shot her a look and shook her head while motioning to the back room behind the bar. Confused, Lisanna went to the back room followed by her elder sister.

Mirajane closed the door and turned to her little sister "Lisanna, please tell me everything that happened today. It's vital you leave nothing out." Still confused, Lisanna recounted the horrible mission she had nearly ruined with a mortified blush. She had never felt so ashamed in her entire life! Gray could have died because of her.

Mirajane had given her a sad smile and said "Lisanna. Ezra and Natsu were right, even if they were a little harsh. You need to believe in your nakama. They can hold their own! This isn't Edolas anymore Lisanna, we have magic and none of us are defenseless. We must trust each other to do their part on the battlefield. We cannot have such behavior in the future Lisanna."

Lisanna quaked a bit. Those words sounded so ominous coming from her older sister. "Lisanna, I'm afraid we might have been too hasty in clearing you for field work. We should have taken in your experience in Edolas into greater account. This Fairy Tail is different, and you need time to readjust to this. We will ask Natsu and the others to practice combat situations with you when time is not pressing."

Mirajane smiled and cupped her little sister's face. Lisanna had not done wrong, truthfully. If this was Edolas, she was sure Lisanna's actions probably would have been for the best. But it was not, and Fairy Tail had not made allowances for that. "Don't look at this as a punishment Lisanna. This is only training."

The youngest Take Over sibling smiled tearfully before hugging her older sister, happy that Mirajane was not too upset with her. She was unhappy she would be banned from taking missions, but Lisanna knew that after today no one would quite trust her unless she did.

Ezra, Gray, and Natsu climbed the stairs and went into Makarov's office. The Master of Fairy Tail had never looked so serious to the trio, and they felt fear well in their hearts at what it could mean. What could have gone wrong in their absence?

"I'm afraid Team Natsu will need to set out again immediately." Makarov steepled his fingers in worry. "Lucy is in grave danger, but she has no knowledge of the fact. She, along with Gajeel, has mistakenly undertaken a mission that was set aside for Gildarts. Or Mystogan, before Edolas. Their lives are at stake here, and we cannot afford to waste any more time."

Ezra reacted first. "Master how could this-?" Makarov interrupted angrily, slamming down a palm onto his desk. "It doesn't matter at the moment. Hurry and get to the train station and leave for Hargeon at once!" Never one to question orders, Ezra collected her still shocked teammates and their luggage. They raced for the train station while Makarov watched on. He could only pray now. The Thunder Tribe was not due back for another day, so Team Natsu would have to suffice.

"I hope that they will get there in time."


	4. Density

Lucy looked at the mansion and struggled to find words to describe it. Gajeel looked at it and was struck speechless.

"What the fuck is that?" Well, almost speechless. Lucy forgave his cursing this time, since if an occasion called for cursing this was it.

The mansion was some sort of bastard inbred lovechild of an English Victorian mansion, a medieval European fortress, a Chinese palace, and a Picasso painting. There was even a pagoda from Japan thrown in there for apparently no reason as well. It defied all attempts to articulate a description, and Lucy was certain there was not a word in any dictionary able to describe this monstrosity.

"Gajeel…I'm kind of afraid to meet the client now. They must be insane."

"Don't worry Bunny Girl, their ass will be grass if they try and pull anything funny." Lucy felt a smidgen of comfort at that. "Well…I won't say 'it's not like it can eat us', because I'm pretty sure that monster can, but we have to meet the client."

Gajeel raised an eyebrow at the blonde's nervousness, but nodded and entered the mansion first with Lucy following closely behind.

Inside the mansion was even worse, though neither of them would have believed it possible till they were inside. Lucy would have compared it to Howl's bedroom from the book and movie Howl's Moving Castle, but Gajeel was much more blunt.

"It looks like a rainbow and a magical junkyard collided in a fatal accident while drunk off their asses!"

Lucy blushed in embarrassment, but secretly agreed. "Gajeel! This is the house of our paying client who is offering to pay us with a Key. Be. Polite." Gajeel hid a flinch at Lucy's look. Damn that woman for trying to make him look like a pussy. But he quickly jerked a nod anyways.

A voice called out. "Mages?! Here? Are you here to take my request?" A petite woman emerged from behind a door, that was inside a grandfather clock. Whether it was a secret passage that was not secret anymore, or some kind of bizarre door was impossible to tell.

Gajeel spoke for them, seeing that Lucy was busy freaking out internally. "You Aras Ayem?" The petite woman nodded and the duo took stock of Aras' appearance. Aras had deep purple hair and gray eyes which were highlighted by her pale skin. She wore a simple white dress with no shoes.

The most notable features were her hands and feet, which were adorned with razor sharp talons on her fingers and serrated claws on her feet. She smiled at them with too sharp teeth and asked "What guild do you hail from?"

Lucy answered this time, done with her inner flip out. "We're from Fairy Tail. I'm Lucy Heartfilia and this is my partner Gajeel Redfox." Gajeel liked the sound of that, coming from Lucy. His Slayer's instincts, hailing from Metalicana's training and rearing of him, stirred at the words 'my partner' and liked it. Really, really liked it.

Aras' voice penetrated his wandering thoughts.

"Fairy Tail. Good guild, strong too. Are either of you a Star Caller or a Dragon Slayer?" Lucy was startled Aras knew the ancient name of celestial mages. It had nearly been erased from history due to the incredible rarity of celestial mages. Lucy knew well just how rare her kind was; only five known celestial mages had been born in the last hundred years. She was the only one still alive and contracted to the spirits.

"I'm a Celestial mage, or a Star Caller, and Gajeel is an Iron Dragon Slayer." Aras' grin grew blinding, and positively crowed with glee "A Star Caller and a Slayer? Excellent! This just might work afterall!"

Gajeel glowered, already disliking the strange bouncy woman, wary of what she could mean. He did not like her last sentence. Not one bit. Lucy stepped closer to Gajeel, making his instincts stir even more, and asked warily "What 'just might work'?" Lucy had a bad feeling about what Aras was about to say.

"The job I hired you for silly! To destroy the Torque of the World Eater if course! No time to dilly dally or shilly shally, let's mosey!" Gajeel clamped a large paw on Aras' shoulder when she would have taken off.

"We're not going anywhere till you tell us more about the job." Lucy nodded to show her solidarity to Gajeel's order, once more capturing the attention of his instincts. No rebellion on her part? No dissention? Once more he found himself liking that.

Aras let out a shaky laugh and said "O-oh. That's probably for the best isn't it? Have a seat; I'll fetch some chocolate chip cookies and some iron strips."

Lucy sat down on the gestured couch hesitantly, afraid it could possibly eat her. She made sure to sit as close to Gajeel as possible. If the couch tried to eat them, Gajeel would probably be able to eat it before it could eat them. He looked at her from the corner of his eyes, noting how she was starting to get hesitant. Obviously this was unnerving her just as much as him. Maybe he should reassure her. He did not need her skittish.

"Don't worry Lucy. I keep my medic safe."

He carefully made sure to use her name. She obviously needed a little something extra to get her mind off this maniac woman and her stupid mission, and Gajeel felt it was not too much to do.

Lucy smiled up at the pierced man cutely, blushing at "my medic". Before she could say anything Aras bustled in, her claws clicking on the stone flooring, with a silver platter of snacks clasped in her talons.

Everyone quickly snatched a snack, not wanting to get to business just yet. Making contented sounds, everyone ate their respective snacks and sipped the cold drinks Aras provided. Aras finished first and began to address Lucy and Gajeel nonchalantly.

"As I said in my request to your guild, the monster was strong enough to break through the warding spells of a Wizard Saint. I didn't know what the monster was at the time. I do now. The monster is an Earth Dragon's skeleton that has been reanimated by Lost Magic."

Gajeel looked at Aras with an incredulous expression while Lucy looked curious. "So that's why you asked for a Dragon Slayer." Gajeel stated. He was having a hard time believing someone actually wanted him to make good on the name of his magic.

Aras nodded. "Yes. The Dragon's been dead for centuries, but I don't know how the mage found the skeleton. The mage who had the gall to reanimate it was killed by the skeleton, after he set the command to protect the Torque from those who would retrieve it. Obviously it deemed him a threat, and ate him accordingly." Gajeel smirked at hearing the wizard's ironic end, while Lucy fretted.

"How is the Dragon still animated? How was it able to turn on the wizard? A magical construct or something that is brought to life by a wizard's magic should never be able to turn on them!"

Aras smiled serenely at the worried blonde celestial mage, and sipped her drink calmly. "As far as I was able to figure out, the wizard set the spell into a large Lacrima which keeps the skeleton animated. As for why it was able to turn on the mage, or why the mage was deemed a threat, I have no idea!"

Gajeel grunted in annoyance and muttered "Well that was helpful-oof!" He was nearly shoved off the couch by a vengeful elbow to the ribs, and he resisted the urge to clutch his pained ribs. Lucy shot him a sweet smile while her eyes sparkled evilly. "Lucy…" Gajeel almost roared, but Roaring in this madhouse would be stupid. So it came out as a vicious growl. But Lucy just smiled sweetly at him, speaking in a demonic voice that was at odds with the angelic image she was projecting. "Yes Gajeel?" He gulped a bit. "...Never mind." "Good."

Aras looked between the two confusedly before a smirk appeared on her face. She asked "Are you two sweethearts?" Lucy's face turned a red so red it glowed, while Gajeel started sputtering as he too blushed. Both of them shook their heads in unison and made an 'X' with their arms as they frantically denied it.

Aras grinned "Come now! There's no need to lie to ole Aras is there?" Lucy shrieked in her embarrassment "There's nothing going on between me and Gajeel!"

A little voice piped up in her mind But he is so hot, with those muscles-, and Lucy strangled the errant thought before it could continue with more dangerous ideas.

Gajeel growled out at the crazy client. "We're just two people who paired up since everyone else they knew was either busy, or didn't want to go on a job." A sly voice that sounded suspiciously like Metalicana whispered teasingly, But you wouldn't mind being together with this one, would you? A fucking sexy body, feisty and loyal, plus totally unafraid of you-' Gajeel grabbed hold of the sly voice, and drop kicked it out of his mind. He had always known Metalicana was a son of a bitch, but the bastard was taking it too far!

Aras snickered softly at the two mages, who seemed to have just noticed they found the other attractive. They really were dense to have only noticed it now! Good thing she was there. Imagine the sexual tension build up that would have occurred without her to identify they wanted to make the beast with two backs!

She snickered some more, deeply amused.


	5. Comfort

After calming down, Lucy and Gajeel had interrogated Aras on what she knew of Earth Dragons and their magic.

What Aras revealed was intriguing. "Earth Dragons are probably the least magical subset of the entire Dragon species. What little magic they do posses is defensive for the most part. Things like magic stone armor in addition to their natural scales. As far as I could find for its offensive magic is the ability to create razor sharp stone spikes that shoot up from the earth."

Lucy had to refrain from snorting at the dismissive way Aras used with the offensive magic. This meant no ground based traps, and walking on the ground would be a dangerous thing. Since Lily was not with them, they could not even have someone immune from this inconvenient threat.

Despite being minimally equipped with magic, these Earth Dragons did seem to have made the most of it. If only they knew how this terrain based attack worked, then Lucy could begin hatching a plan to work around it. Maybe Aries' wool could be made dense enough to be used as a safe platform? She needed to ask the Ram as soon as she could.

"Since Earth Dragon's are nearly magical duds, they are the strongest physically of the entire Dragon race. A trade off of sorts. So you, Lucy, should be a distance fighter only. If this Dragon twitched and hit you, there would only be some Lucy paste left."

Lucy squeaked a little, eyes glazed as she pictured a brown Dragon twitch and a comically flattened Lucy. _Shit! Only Scorpio and Sagittarius are used to long range attacks! And I'm close range and so's Gajeel! Fuck, this is bad!_

Gajeel frowned at the squeak and shifted his knee until it touched Lucy's. Lucy jumped at the sudden contact, for she knew the man next to her was very conscious of his personal space. Hell she could even compare the man to that character from her latest manga, Hibari Kyouya! Lucy quickly calmed at the gruff man's reassurance, knowing that he was trying to keep her from freaking out at these new and unwelcome complication.

Yet Lucy mostly marveled silently at just how he calmly managed her quirks. She knew if he had not interrupted her thoughts, she would have descended into one of her characteristic panic attacks. And even more touching, she knew Team Natsu would have let it occur and then address the issue bothering her. She may never have mentioned it, but her upbringing as a rich heiress always made her feel extremely embarrassed to show her cards so easily.

She felt her heart melt a little for the silent man. No one else had done something like this for her, and it truly touched her. Not even Natsu and his Sakura tree, despite how she cherished the memory.

Natsu would have joked about her fear, not really understanding why she was afraid. Gray would not have done anything, since he rarely made an effort with other's emotions if he was not forced to or felt guilty. The Ice Make mage did care, but his laissez-faire attitude to such things did not help Lucy. And Loke would have infuriated her beyond belief with his slightly chauvinistic ways, no matter how sincere he was.

Oddly enough, she had the feeling Laxus would have done a good job at reassuring her. Even when he asked for her to become his woman as payment for helping out the Guild during the Phantom Lord incident, he had always treated her like an adult. When he had asked that awful question, he had addressed it to _her_. He had left her fate in her hands, something she would never admit to his smug face she had appreciated.

Without even thinking about it, Lucy snuggled even closer to the black clad Slayer. It brought a small, and nearly unnoticeable, smile to his metal studded face. He was pleased she had quit panicking, and was quite pleased she had allowed him to help her in such a manner. He knew she was fiercely independent at times, so this was quite an allowance from the blonde.

Aras watched their actions, play by play, and nearly cooed at the sheer cuteness of their little scene. She would bet a talon that those two would wind up a tight knit couple in the not so distant future. _Lucky for them that no one wanted this mission then. They might not have had this chance to come together without my specific requirements._

Aras coughed to regain their attention. "I'm sure since you're a Star Caller Lucy, you can show me your Keys?" Lucy pulled away from Gajeel a bit to get her Keys, causing a scowl to map itself out across his face, and presented her key-ring to Aras.

"Of the Twelve Ecliptic Keys I am contracted to ten of the twelve, with Ophiuchus being excluded from the traditional Ecliptic band. I hold contracts with Leo, Aquarius, Scorpio, Taurus, Virgo, Cancer, Sagittarius, Gemini, Aries, and Capricorn.

And of the Minor Silver Keys, I am contracted to Crux, Horologium, Lyra, Nikora, and Pyxis. My primary weapon is Fleuve d'etoiles."

Gajeel started to speak after Lucy finished, not letting Aras a chance to absorb the facts in order to impress her with their might. "As we told you, I'm a Iron Dragon Slayer. I am accomplished in my order of Slayers, being formerly classed as an S-Ranked mage. And if you know anything about Slayers, then you should know what it means when I say I have graduated to being able to handle my order's secret arts. "

Aras was impressed. Extremely so. Each chapter of the Slayers' order had secret arts, but very few individuals were talented enough in their art to handle even using one of these difficult spells. And add the fact the last time a single Star Caller held ten of the Ecliptic Keys was probably when the Spirits consented to Contracting... These two were quite the accomplished mages in each of their magics; a fierce team.

Gajeel demanded, in an impatient manner that reflected itself in his brusque voice "So where is our mark at?" Lucy nodded in agreement, not desiring to waste any more time.

Aras grew grim. Since the woman had been deucedly cheerful in everything else, this was something that made the duo grow cautious. "I managed to track the Earth Dragon to here in…"

* * *

><p>Gray frowned. Well scowling was more appropriate, at the ridiculously motion sick Natsu. Ezra had been too worried about their wayward medic to even knock out the miserable flame-brain for his own good. Thus he had to listen to Natsu's pitiful moaning.<p>

As he glared at Natsu for no real reason, he was reminded of painfully of Lucy once more.

Lucy usually was the one that took care of the more destructive members of Team Natsu. Whether it be performing crude field surgery until a more qualified medic could be found, or simply comforting the motion sick Slayer, Lucy was the one who did it all.

Lucy had even somehow had found a way to at least keep Natsu from hurling on transport, without knocking him out. It was something no one else had discovered yet how to do. Lucy would have him lay his head on her lap, and she combed through his wild pink hair while talking to the rest of them. Sometimes she would even hum something soothing, if she did not want to listen to her Sound Pod.

Without Lucy…Gray could not even picture such a thing. He may have grown up with many of the current guild members, but Lucy likely knew more about them than they knew about her. She even took care of Ezra by bringing a spare cheesecake for when Ezra's slice inevitably was destroyed. Or taking her shopping for cutesy and girly things! Who else treated Ezra like a normal female besides Lucy?

Gray flinched as he recalled how Lucy had patched him and Natsu after yet another brawl. Out of countless brawls, it was the first time someone had patched him and his rival up. She had supported him when Lyon had nearly released the demon their teacher, Ur, had died sealing. Lucy had been there for everyone, in ways people rarely noticed. And they had not even stopped to think how their selfish request would affect her, someone they knew faced doubts about her own power compared to theirs.

Gray had never felt more like a heel and a cur before in his entire life. Not even the time he had first accidentally flashed someone with the damnable habit Ur had instilled in him.

Hell, even Happy had been affected by this! The blue Exceed was unbearably silent for once in his life, not even piping up about fish, Carla, or fishing. The Exceed just moped around by Natsu and started bawling if someone mentioned the mission. Gray felt like bawling a little too at the thought of Lucy dying before they could make amends. Or her dying at all.

The Ice Alchemist looked at his team, his depressed and tense team, and knew this was probably more important to everyone than the Edolas mission. After all, Lucy's life had not been on the line there. They had had an enemy, someone they could fight against, and allies. Not this unclear situation where time was going to be the deciding factor, and not their strength or smarts.

They were going into this battle blind and deaf, for neither of them had heard about a Torque before. Lucy was the one who had always researched the details about their missions, making sure there was no way they would be going in without so much as a scrap of intelligence. They had not even thought to research the artifact in question, still subconsciously expecting Lucy to brief them en route.

Gray shivered in apprehension. How could they save Lucy, if it was likely they would not be able to save themselves?


	6. Hit The Road

Partners  
>AN: I'm totally borrowing the location names from .hack/G.U. .

AND I'M STILL LOOKING FOR A BETA. I'm trying to keep Fang uninvolved since Fang knows nothing about FT.

* * *

><p>Lucy huffed at Gajeel in irritation when Aras finally told them where their objective was, "Either the Coite Bodher Battlefield Remains, Sins Ran Badhi, or Arche Kloen Falls in the Dragonbone Mountain Range?!"<p>

Lucy harrumphed angrily. "Honestly! It's going to take at least a week to even reach the mountain range, even with the SE Plug Vehicle!" Gajeel snorted as he crossed his arms, the motion ruffling the feathery raiment Aras had graceously repaired.

"Ya should have known something was up when she threw us out Bunny Girl." Lucy gave him a sullen look, earning an arrogant smirk in return. "So Blondie, wanna drive?"

Lucy looked at Gajeel out of the corner of her eye, before rolling her eyes at the man. "I've never driven before and I'm not sure I could go fast enough for very long." Gajeel snorted in amusement. So cautious, how did she ever partner with that flame-brain?

"Can't hurt to try Blondie. After all, I need to sleep and we'll have to drive in shifts if we're going to be quick." Lucy grimaced at him, but Gajeel felt gratified that she had acknowledged he was right. He knew how rarely she conceded anything to her usual team, so he felt kind of smug that he, Gajeel, had done what Team Natsu could not._ Nice to have someone listen to me again, Fairy Tail's usually too stubborn or too stupid._

"Gajeel come on!" He shook off his smugness at Lucy's voice, well most of it, and made his way to the impatient blonde. She had already gotten into the driver's seat, so Gajeel jumped up onto the Vehicle and sat down by Lucy. It was a tight fit, Gajeel was a large and muscular man, but since neither of them really minded being in each other's personal space for this it was fine.

Gajeel took Lucy's hands, blushing a tad, and placed the steering reins in Lucy's hands. He leaned over a bit and started talking. "Hold the channel point between both of your hands, it makes it easier to control it. You're going to feel it pulling on your magic so don't flip the fuck out. Slowly let your magic into the channel, like whatever you do with those damn Keys of yours."

Lucy was blushing a bit, but she was listening to him very carefully._ Good. She knows how to keep that pretty mouth of her's shut, nice to know._ "Don't let it pull everything in in one burst. If you do, you'll be knocked out and be completely fucking drained. It might take a day or even more for you to wake up, and you'll be damned lucky if you do after that kind of draining."

Lucy was impressed by the gruff Slayer. It may have been clipped and littered with some cursing, but she was impressed since that was the longest she had ever heard him talk. _Sheesh, if Natsu had that kind of gravel voice going on I might listen to his blathering more often. And I'm now going to forget I ever thought that._ "Thanks partner. Let's mosey!"

Quickly, she began to pump in controlled amounts of magic. The Vehicle leaped forwards, throwing Gajeel back a little with the sudden boost in velocity. He grunted a bit, and muttered something about blondes not knowing how to drive before settling in to watch for any first time mistakes Lucy might make.

* * *

><p>Gajeel remained attentive for about an hour, but once he had seen Lucy knew what she was doing he had clambered inside for a nap. Lucy could hear him snoring somewhat and saying things occasionally. But since she drove smoothly and slowly enough that she could hear him, she was bored.<p>

Her weariness about overusing her mana had kept her on her toes for an hour or so, but since she ran her Vehicle at the rate of a racehorse and not Ezra's high speed train her fears were unfounded. After two more hours she felt slightly winded and extremely bored since her only company was her own voice and Gajeel's snores.

In desperation she had even resorted to traveling songs and had indeed pulled down all nine hundred and ninety-nine bottles of beer off the wall. She scowled before pulling over into a shady grove of maples and pines. Since it was mid-spring it was leafy enough to hide the Vehicle within. "Okay, dinner time it is! Then I'll rotate with Gajeel. Sounds like a plan!"

Lucy willfully ignored that talking to yourself was a tell-tale sign of dementia as she set about her assigned tasks.

* * *

><p>Gajeel on the other hand, had had a excellent and refreshing nap. He had dreamed of Dragons, defeating Natsu, and feasts of rich metals. All in all, good dreams. And if a certain blonde Bunny Girl popped up in a skimpy outfit offering delicious metal treats instead of a outspoken bookworm, Gajeel refused to admit so.<p>

His eyes snapped open as he heard Lucy rap sharply on the door, half-expecting an attack until she called out, "Wake up Gajeel and get out here! I made dinner!" _Lucy?_ He heard her back away and inhaled deeply. He smelled cooking meat, iron, evergreens, maples, Lucy, the fire she had made, and the various smells he associated with their ride. Her cooking smelled excellent. _Looks like it's safe. Don't know any fucker that can mess with my smell._

His stomach roared its own Roar in eagerness for some food, making him wonder how long it had been since he had been awake. Gajeel then scoffed a bit at himself as he sat up._ Damn Guild's spoiled me. I'm not used to going without anymore, not like when I was in Phantom Lord. And it's been even longer since I've had someone just cooking for me._

Impatiently he opened the door a bit roughly, but he made sure not to rip it off its hinges. Gajeel was not into giving his hard earned reward back, unlike that Team of Lucy's. _When did I start thinking like that? It's not her Team, not anymore and never was. So why do I keep calling it her team?_

As he made his way to the sitting mage, Lucy turned at his stomping and offered him his meal with a smile. He felt the urge to grin back. _So fucking domestic! Why am I liking this?_ She had put metal stripes alongside the two hamburgers. Like it was normal to have your partner eat metal like it was bread. He did not know how to describe how it felt, being treated like Metalicana's training had not made him a freak. But it was good.

Moving on from the meat and metal, Gajeel noticed Lucy had included a apple for dessert along with a light beer. They would have to rough it soon enough, so he would enjoy the civilized food while he could.

The only reason they had the supplies for the food though was because Lucy had bartered with Aras for them. It had been enjoyable to watch the blonde negotiate, and he knew she had enjoyed it too. Sometimes Gajeel felt like he was the only one that remembered she had been the heiress to a multi-million Jewel company, and had trained to take over her father's position.

Eventually Lucy had argued the outrageous price Aras had initially set down to something a bit more manageable. Aras had agreed to outfit them completely in exchange for a Lacrima of their magic the size of Aras pinky finger from tip to the first joint. It had been difficult, since Lucy was the only one of them to have even attempted this before. ("It's useful when you're planning for battle, having pre-stored energy in addition to full reserves.")

He did wonder why she wanted their Lacrima, but they did not have nearly enough to pay even half of the supplies' price. So it was a bargain they had been happy to make. Quietly he crewed on his metal, before trying the hamburger. He gave a low rumble of pleasure. It was delicious. _Alright, it's official. I'm keeping Lucy, and damn those three morons! This kind of outdoors cooking is too good to give up!_

Gajeel resisted shivering as he remembered Juvia's cooking along with his utterly disastrous attempt. He never ate her cooking again. And he never so much as touched a spatula afterwards. And with this free cook, this free medic, this free partner just hanging around unclaimed he practically owed it to himself and her to claim her.

After all, he knew how to appreciate such a useful partner!


	7. The Shadows Lap at Our Heels

Yup. This ISN'T dead! Just kinda sluggish. No idea when I'll be able to do some more till school is offically over with, but hopefully soon!

WARNING! WARNING!

There is some **traumatizing stuff** in Gajeel's past in this story! While it's not _totally_ graphic, it is **graphic enough**. I think. I'm not sure how graphic it really is for sure. I'll put a warning in anyways when it's about to happen. **It probably is M-Rated to be frank**.

To forestall the questions I know that are going to come from it, **no I'm not going to remove it**. I'm also **not going to answer why it's been put in there, not officially at least**.(I don't mind guessing, or confirming whether its right or wrong as long as you think you can keep quiet) And no, it's not needless. It's there for a _reason_. Not lying!

Also! Check out the poll! It's important!

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><p>Chapter Seven: The Shadows Lap at Our Heels<p>

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><p>Lucy found herself quickly settling into a routine with Gajeel. She would make breakfast, wake Gajeel, get his nearly comatose ass back in the Vehicle, and drive till around lunch time. After she found a spot that wouldn't let prying eyes easily see two hungry magi devouring Lucy's delicious food, she would make as wholesome a lunch as she could with the limits of their supplies.<p>

Then, and only then, Gajeel would finally be coherent enough to do anything besides eat and sleep. He kept saying he wasn't nearly so bad with some caffeine or alcohol, but Lucy didn't but it for one minute. She never saw him in the Guild before noon unless he had arrived fresh from a mission. Either way, they would talk and plan for about half an hour before moving on. Gajeel's shift of driving began then. He drove faster than her, thankfully not Ezra fast, right until dinner time. Generally for dinner they only had a light meal, taking no more than fifteen minutes, before Gajeel had them back on the road. Once night fell though, Lucy would come out and ride at the front with Gajeel.

She was there to help in case of an ambush and to supply more mana in case they needed to get away fast. It was a good thing she did because they had already been ambushed once, and it had worked beautifully.

A posy of magi trying to make it as bandits tried to run them off the road around midnight. Lucy had taken the reigns from Gajeel, leaving him to fight, while she began approaching Ezra's pace. Gajeel had fought from the roof of the racing Vehicle( Iron Dragon Slaying Magic had many ways of helping one to stay on their feet), defending them from incoming magi and magic while she got them away. Mercilessly Gajeel blew them with his Roars and iron clubs, not letting them getting anywhere near her or their Vehicle. Once it looked like Gajeel had put them down hard, Lucy quit holding back and started putting the Vehicle through its paces, exceeding Ezra's pace for a time.

Later, after Gajeel was sure they weren't still after them, he took back control of the Vehicle. He had to support her till he stopped; because by then she was so exhausted staying conscious was nearly beyond her.

They drove until dawn arrived, and they both slept till noon within the Vehicle and each other's arms. Gajeel had practically covered her with his body by the time she woke up, but Lucy couldn't bring herself to mind it. It made her feel extraordinarily safe to be so protected. And she knew he didn't mean anything perverse by it. Lucy knew him well enough now to dismiss that idea right away, but she had _not_ planned on making it routine as well.

When Gajeel had woken up to the smell of her cooking, the man had been on edge. He was no longer as relaxed as he had been, and what softness he had shown her was hidden away. Lucy knew he would have escalated his wariness after the attack, but she had failed to recall Slayers tended to be a bit protective after battle. She probably made Gajeel think someone had gotten by him and snatched her, making her feel guilty she had accidently done that to him. The bastard probably knew she felt guilty too.

He didn't immediately confront her, eating his meal came first, along with letting her simmer in her guilt. By the time they had finished and cleaned up, Gajeel had started talking.

"Lucy…I think you should start only sleeping in the Vehicle while I'm in there too from now on, even when we stop." "What."

"Yeah you heard me right, and hear me out before you start screaming and kicking. Those damn morons proved this road isn't safe, and we barely had any warning they were there. If they had been bathing they would have taken us by surprise entirely, cause even I can't hear over the Vehicle enough to detect ambushes. I was only able to fend them off cause you took over driving, but if you had been inside, asleep… They might have been able to kidnap you before I knew a thing, or injure you badly.

We both have to rest about three hours at night, even with sleeping during the day, if we want full reserves after fueling the Vehicle. I'd much rather you are right next to me, and all the shit that could start between us, than wake up and find you've been abducted somehow."

His face during his speech displayed how serious an issue he considered these safety concerns to be, voice hinting at a growl at the idea of someone managing to take her.

The Vehicle had barely enough room for the short, larger than average single bed the couches pulled out into. Gajeel had to curl up to fit on it, too tall for the cramped space. Having them both on that bed would mean they would need to be extremely close to each other, pretty much holding one another. He was doing himself no favors in suggesting this.

Lucy resisted her initial impulse to deny Gajeel out of hand. Gajeel was a very attractive man, and being in such close quarters presented a unique temptation for both of them. Lucy was thankful she had gotten to know Gajeel well enough to know how big a deal this would be for her partner.

Despite being a Dragonslayer, a mage inclined to berserker tactics, Gajeel was a very private individual. He demanded space for his personal bubble, taking great offense if it was invaded. He also despised talking about his past, and since she had learned he did talk in his sleep occasionally, he was taking a chance that she would either never find anything or she could be trusted to keep his secrets. In short, his offer was an enormous thing for him. If she refused him outright, she had a feeling that he would never offer her something of such magnitude again and their building partnership would die in its infancy.

However… Lucy sank deeper into her thoughts to consider her objections further.

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><p>Gajeel watched Lucy intently, waiting patiently as his freshly forged partner contemplated his proposal. The fact she was considering it at all was amazing. He appreciated that, for whatever reason, Lucy trusted him enough to believe that he had come up with this plan purely for her safety.<p>

Lucy had no reason to trust him, not at all, but she still did. Not as much as she had trusted her Team, for their partnership was so new, but… it meant a great deal to Gajeel.

He would freely admit to Lucy, or anyone who asked and he care enough to answer, he _was_ attracted to the blonde. The former heiress was stunning, and was just as pure as her bright eyes advertised. This plan, if Lucy went along with it, would be no easier on him than on her. He _hated_ sharing space. Phantom Lord had taught him precisely just what a person could do if you were in their reach and unable to block. The scar along his belly, the one he had nearly been completely vivisected by, tingled as memory stirred

He had gained that scar very soon after he had been found. Wild, uncivilized, and ignorant of his own nativity, Gajeel had wandered into the den of cutthroats without the slightest idea of what he was getting into. _'Metallicana never talked about Guilds, Light or Dark. Stupid gecko must have assumed I would have stayed far away from people much longer. And that when I was found I'd have some idea of the basics and I would be found by someone with at least _some_ morals.'_

But Gajeel never would have stayed far from humanity, no matter how much he hated being surrounded after living with the irritable Dragon. He needed metal, and ore was scarce; too scarce for his appetite. Both of his Guildmasters had found him for the same reason. Eventually, confronted with the choice of starvation or risking exposure, Gajeel would take any choice other than death.

Iron, steel, he needed greater quantities than he could afford in his beginning days at Phantom Lord and the Master was too tightfisted to get him the metals necessary for survival. Eventually the magi figured out he was desperate for metal and money, and not even a full load of missions could get him to break even. With that came exchanging favors for his necessities, and the exploitation of one Dragon Slayer. It was grisly work they made him do, nasty stuff that dirtied his name and reputation long before he created Black Steel Gajeel. And no matter how much he hated the whole situation, Gajeel would never willingly starve to death.

They waited long enough for him to trust them with getting the right metals for him, and then they left him to starve until he was nearly insane from the hunger. They blacklisted him missions, favors, errands, anything that could have earned him money or metal. He wasn't fearsome back then, not strong enough to either coerce or force supplies to give him his food, and so he no choice but to hope they would throw him a bone. When they finally gave him a job in exchange for metal, the Dragon had been so close to the surface he had nearly attempted to main them for the delicious metals he could nearly taste on their persons. He had had enough sanity to restrain himself, but he bitterly regretted doing so later.

He did the job, and they had metal waiting for him at the Guild. At the sight at so much metal after his unwilling starvation, Gajeel couldn't help himself. He immediately began devouring it, trusting that his comrades wouldn't hurt him, but after eating it all Gajeel knew that he had been grossly betrayed.

**WARNING! Grisly stuff starts here!**

'_I hadn't known Raven Tail had offered a bounty for any Slayers that weren't going to be missed; 30 million Jewels was more than enough to get them to try and take my life. _

_Fuckers must have realized I never ate anything rusting, not even if it had only a speck of rust, for a good reason. That oxidized iron is poisonous in miniscule proportions because it corrupts the iron I eat and attacks my magic like some sort of disease. With the amount they gave me I should've died. Goddamn idiots saved my life though when they tried to cut me open so they could sell my parts on the Black Market. The blood loss got some of the oxidized iron out, enough for me to regain consciousness. After that, I pummeled them with an iron club, though the damn thing snapped in half after sending the last guy flying since it was so rusted.'_

Black humor danced along his memory of the incident, though nothing really helped to dull what came after.

He was forced to turn his finger into a scalpel, trying _**so damn hard**_ to keep it as free of rust as he could. What he did next he would never have done if death wasn't assured as he was, but it would haunt him for the rest of his life. Steeling himself against the agony he was in, and what he was about to inflict on himself, Gajeel sliced his stomach open.

White hot agony as he had never felt before was his world before he remembered himself. With the hand that wasn't holding his stomach open, he began pulling out the ruinous metal. His own stomach acid, so much stronger than a normal human's, caused a new and different agony that threatened to send him into unconsciousness. But Gajeel refused to die over this treachery.

Eons later he finished scooping out the metal and stapled his stomach and abdomen into something that wasn't gaping open. Sloppy work, but it lasted until he got to the next town and the closest healer. He nearly died on the way over when a staple popped free, but he managed to replace the staple quick enough.

**END OF WARNING**

The healer and his wife worked on him for over a week, healing his wounds and magic. The healer never asked him any questions over how he got his wounds, but he had told Gajeel that in return for a perfectly healed stomach, magic system, and retaining full use of his hand he would have massive scarring. He also said if he ever saw anyone from the Guild who wasn't Gajeel, he and his wife would refuse treatment.

Gajeel was twelve. The healer and his wife, Maoh and Rhaplanca, held to their word and never healed anyone else from Phantom Lord ever again, despite the Dark Guild's attempts to convince them otherwise.

His fingers twitched, the old scar pulling slightly, as he pulled himself out of those dark times with all the willpower he could muster.

'_Fuck it all. Even the _idea_ of letting someone so close is giving me flashbacks. If I hadn't learned I _don't _attack Lucy in my sleep, which still fucking blows my mind, I wouldn't have suggested this. Damn. Pantherlily still chances getting mauled and Levy would have been on that mission if that speedy bastard hadn't moved her in time… Hold on a minute. Gah! I should've clued into this weirdness sooner!_

_No one's ever had this much success at getting me up without having a feral Iron Dragon Slayer on their hands. _**Damn it all**._ Damndamndamndamn. I've been soft with her since I first met her! Phantom Lord's Black Steel Gajeel practically handled her with velveteen kid gloves, and back then I killed and maimed others for less back talk she gave me. (_AN: Seriously, he did. Take a look at how he handles _everyone_ who isn't Lucy or his Master. Black Steel did treat Lucy unusually well, and Jude most noticeably _didn't_ specify how what condition Lucy was supposed to be in. Even Juvia risked catching the wrong side of him. Levy, his _love interest_ **did**.)

_She wasn't nakama then. And Black Steel wouldn't have cared too much if he delivered damaged goods.'_

Gajeel had to work to keep his composure as the revelation began unveiling itself completely. How the hell had he missed this whole issue before?!

'_No wonder Levy kept accusing me of displaying interest in Lucy. Granted, back then I never even acknowledged she existed most of the time, but Levy must have figured it out. Damn. Well at least now I'm pretty sure Lucy is going to be exempt from most of my issues. Pretty nice silver lining coming out of fucking nowhere.'_

Gajeel snapped back to the clearing when Lucy nodded to herself. "Alright. I'm willing to give this a trial, because I know you won't try to take advantage of this."

At her words Gajeel felt something rumble in pleasure, pleased beyond words that she thought he had changed enough to trust him in this. He gave her a pleased smile, careful to note her returning smile was just as soft as his.

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><p>About half a week into the test trail, they were attacked again. This time though the attackers were somewhat competent at stealth. If Lucy hadn't been lying under him, like a precious metal hoard, Gajeel was quite certain they would have made off with her. He had not been happy at the near miss.<p>

Once he began beating them to a pulp, they quickly abandoned stealth and tried to retreat. However, Gajeel captured their leader before the rat-like man could vanish as well. He began to interrogate the scum, and the leader crumbled like wet paper after only one punch to the gut. He was all too eager to give up his cohorts and mission in order to avoid more of Gajeel's interrogative skills.

Someone had put a bounty out on his and Lucy's heads for a safe capture.

Lucy quietly told him she wouldn't be sleeping anywhere else, before burrowing into his side for comfort. As he held her, Gajeel grimly concluded that someone not only wanted them to fail this mission very much but they wanted _them_ just as terribly.

And you didn't promise 15 million Jewel bounties per capture because you wanted to do anything _nice_ to the ones you sought.

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><p>*Team Natsu and other will probably come back in about a chapter or three. They aren't the main characters after all!<p> 


	8. Behind Walls

Hi, it's been awhile! I finally got around to typing this out after making myself sit down and actually start working. There's major references to another anime in this one because it kinda worked out this way, and I kinda-sorta hint at a crack crossover ship, but never fear! Gajeel shall never let anyone shorter than him usurp his rightful place!

So see if you can spot both the anime and the ship! Toodles!

PS: Before anyone complains, remember! Fairy Tail not only has canonical evidence for alternate universes but CROSSOVERS WITH COMPLETELY UNRELATED ANIMES/MANGAS! The mangaka crossed over FT with another of his works and vice versa, thus establishing it's okay for the rest of us to do so as well!

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><p>After that unpleasant revelation, Gajeel never let Lucy out of his sight.<p>

_Too fucking close, and it's not gonna stop until we take care of whoever placed that bounty on our heads. If we had a Communication Lacrima we could contact the Guild, and I know from first-hand experience just how poorly Fairy Tail will take this development. Maybe we'll come across a town and get lucky. Someone's gotta have a Lacrima… But that's still a ways off._

Gajeel glanced at the driving blonde, adjusting his arms to relieve the stiffness that came from being on constant alert.

_Thank god Lucy's been understanding so far. This would have been so much worse if she started demanding privacy. Plus she's comfortable enough to try and go the extra step to always let me know what she's going to be doing, if it meant she won't be in direct line of sight. Gihi. Heck, trying to pry her off of me… It'd be easier to convince Juvia to let go of the Stripper_._.._

Lucy made his job of guarding them easier to be sure, but Gajeel was happier with how Lucy responded to his efforts than the fact she was capable of understanding the necessary sacrifice of personal privacy.

Gajeel felt the urge to puff out his chest, proud that Lucy felt that he was a decent enough protector that she didn't really challenge his orders about safety. The sensation of holding such trust was a bit alien, but Gajeel knew he liked it.

He snarled as a bright golden light filled the air, launching himself onto the roof of the moving Vehicle, ready to rip apart this new enemy. Gajeel braced as the Vehicle sped up, but then it returned to its regular pace for some reason. "Lucy?!"

Then he saw spiky ginger hair, arranged in a familiar pattern. So it was just her Spirit…

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><p>Lucy looked at Loke with a frown, displeased that he had sent both of them into ambush mode for no reason. She consciously made her muscles relax before addressing her errant Lion Spirit. "Loke! What are you doing, trying to give me a heart attack?!"<p>

The Zodiac leader looked startled by her vehemence, and Lucy killed the budding guilt she began to feel before it could take hold. She refused to be ashamed of her paranoia when she had a price on her head.

"Lucy? Princess, is something wrong? And why are you with Gajeel, not Team Natsu?"

Lucy sighed. She supposed she did need to give her Spirits an update on the situation. "One moment Loke."

She turned her head to address Gajeel, noting the heavy scowl and crossed arms. "Gajeel! Let's pull over a second, I need to give my Spirits a situation update!" He nodded his ascent, and his frown lightened a little. "Let's make it quick Blondie, we're out in the open."

With that, she steered them off the road and parked. Her spine cracked and popped as she stretched out, stiff from driving so long, but she made sure to keep Gajeel in her field of vision.

"Lucy what's going on?"

She turned to Loke, noting how serious he looked, how concerned. With a sigh, Lucy began laying out all of the changes that had happened over the last few days. Needless to say, Loke took Team Natsu's actions poorly, but his reaction to the bounty on her head nearly scared her. Such a look of inhuman rage contorted his face, and she finally could see the "King of Beasts," side that he had taken great care to suppress.

After that Loke only said, "Lucy. Summon me the next time you see either Team Natsu or another batch of bounty hunters."

He returned to the Celestial Realm after that parting command, and Lucy Summoned her other Zodiac Keys as well, to make sure they all knew the situation. She had never seen Aries or the others looking so murderous before. It was heartwarming that they cared enough that they wanted to eradicate the bounty hunter and pummel Team Natsu.

"Damn Bunny Girl, that mermaid was worse than Titania in a snit over her cake. Why don't you call her out more often?"

Lucy turned to Gajeel, noting how his posture had changed to indicate he meant the compliment. She promptly heaved yet another great sigh the thought of Summoning Aquarius more often.

"I'd love to, but Aquarius is a berserker who doesn't care if I or my allies are caught up in her attacks at the _best _of times. She's a desperation move primarily because of that, and even then I don't Summon her as often as I would if she was anything like how a mature Combat Spirit should be."

Gajeel winced in sympathy for the Celestial Mage.

_Damn, that's got to be a bitter pill to swallow. Your best fighter is too much of a nutcase to use in a fight, and if you do, she's going to hit you with the full force of her attack. How the fuck can Lucy even use a Spirit like that? Most magi would have tossed that Key by now, Zodiac or not, if the Spirit actually endangered her life any time it attacked. And the only reason Lucy does get sucked into her attacks is because the mermaid doesn't even care enough to spare her. _

"You've got guts Lucy. Most magi would have gotten rid of that Key, Gold or not, by now."

Lucy took in his impressed face and took his words as a compliment. With her Spirits taken care of, they both climbed back onto the Vehicle. Gajeel took the reins, and they were off.

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><p>The rest of the day was very uneventful. Boring and quite tense, since the unexpected attack hadn't come yet, but uneventful. Lucy watched the scenic road with dull eyes, deceptively leaning against Gajeel because Summoning all of her Spirits in quick succession was tiring. But while she was tired, she actually wasn't tired enough to need the Slayer to prop her up.<p>

No, this was part of a plan.

Hopefully any watchers would see her and attack the mage they thought was too weak to even keep herself upright. Also, Gajeel was getting to the point that if he didn't fight something soon, he would probably snap under the relentless pressure. Lucy hoped that physically reassuring him that she was still by his side, still safe, would take away some of his stress, but she couldn't tell if it was working. With luck, her harebrained idea was helping her partner out.

"Lucy…" _I've never heard his voice go so low before. He's almost snarling…This probably isn't a good sign._

"Hmm? What is it Gajeel?" "Is there a town or a village anywhere nearby?"

Lucy frowned. There was one, about two miles off the main path to their destination and it would be about four miles ahead from their current location, according to local maps. They had discussed stopping in one of the towns or villages earlier, but they had decided not to in favor of expediting their travel speed.

_Gajeel wouldn't ask if he didn't have a reason…And maybe we could get ahold of a Communication Lacrima. Alright then. One night shouldn't hurt, and hopefully this will give Gajeel a break._

"There's one two miles off the road, on the left, four miles ahead. It's called Trost, and we can stay the night and see about Communication Lacrima in the morning."

Gajeel grunted in acknowledgement and increased the pace by quite a bit. Lucy gently worried at her lip as she snuggled closer. She hoped she had made the right call.

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><p>Trost turned out to be a decently sized town, snugly enclosed inside of ridiculously high stone walls. As they drove up Lucy eyed the walls warily. Generally, in her experiences, you only built a wall to either keep something <em>out <em>or something _in_. The question was, which was the reason Trost had built such titanic walls?

Lucy wasn't sure, but she saw no damage to indicate recent attacks or really any signs of patching on the walls. As they drove through some impressively thick doors that appeared to have been hewn out of the same stones that made up the walls, Lucy began looking for inns and friendly people who could direct them to an inn. All the people she saw gave them suspicious looks as they made their way, looking oddly hostile, but Lucy had to admit Gajeel cut a very imposing picture. With wild hair, bulging muscles, pointy teeth, and bright red eyes, Gajeel did look sorta suspicious to someone who had never met him.

And since Gajeel kept scaring the townsfolk witless, that meant the only two hotels they had come across had been suspiciously "completely booked." Lucy had called bullshit on the second attempt, only to suddenly find herself and Gajeel magically evicted from the premises. But while both of their moods were plummeting to subterranean levels, neither of them were willing to get violent.

Yet.

"Excuse me sir, but is there _any _inn in Trost that has some room for travelers?"

Lucy pleaded the elderly bald man with her artfully widened eyes, hoping that the drink that had put the pink in his cheeks would loosen his pity and tongue. The man stared at her before switching to staring at Gajeel. Lucy felt Gajeel stiffen minutely, muscles tensing enough that Lucy knew that Gajeel had sensed something about the man that she couldn't.

Whatever the man found in his searching, Lucy didn't know. But he laughed a deep gut-busting laugh from the heart at his results, so it could not have been too terrible. Gajeel eased up at the laugh, and Lucy felt herself beginning to relax as she felt Gajeel allow himself to calm down.

"Well I didn't expect to see two young travelers such as yourselves tonight, but it looks like my neighbors haven't been as welcoming as they should have been. My apologies for your treatment this evening, but you'll find it's a common thing here for Trost citizens to react poorly to strangers." He chuckled. "Even when they don't deserve it, like you two."

"We had some pretty terrible incidents awhile back due to some rogue, wandering magi. Gave them shelter and our trust, and then they turned out to be traitors that tried to stab us in the back as soon as they saw an opportunity. Nobody really wants a repeat incident and sometimes, like tonight with you two, they go too far."

The old man heaved a shuddering sigh, but Lucy and Gajeel could tell he wasn't done yet.

"I'm assuming the Royal Unicorn and the Wall Roses already turned you away?"

Gajeel's voice rumbled angrily. "Took one look at me and said they were completely booked. Those fuckers at the Roses actually evicted us magically when my partner here called them out on claiming to be booked. They're damn lucky she didn't get hurt from their shit, or I'd have proven them right to assume I'm just another monster that came to wreck Trost."

The bald man gave Lucy a sharp once over, probably noting how she was still pretty dirty from flying out into the road from the eviction, before looking to Gajeel again. Gajeel bared his teeth, and Lucy wondered if the man would be stupid enough to challenge Gajeel about her treatment.

Thankfully, the man wasn't a fool, and Lucy didn't need to engage in another attempt at pacifying Gajeel's fury. He tutted, shook his head, and pulled out a hip flask to take a swig.

"Pansies and cowards, as the regulars and owners of Wings' Rest would say. The Wings' Rest will take you two, even if only to stick it to the other two, and you won't find better service within Trost. They'll treat you right. Just be sure to tell them that old man Dot said the pansies and cowards tried to leave you out to hang."

With that, after giving them directions, Dot walked off into the encroaching darkness. Lucy watched him until he left her sight, curious as to why he had helped them. If what he had said was true, then it was odd he had deviated so sharply from the standard behavior of Trost's citizens.

With no answer forthcoming, and Gajeel driving them away, Lucy decided she would ask the owner or bartender at Wings' Rest about the unusual man and town. If they refused to answer or could not provide one, then she would let it go. They would not be able to stay long with the job and their bounties driving them onwards, so it would do little good to get excited over a mystery that wasn't important in the long run.

Five minutes later they came to a halt outside of the inn. It was the odd building out, solidly built of stone with a militaristic style, when its neighbors were built with wood and looked like some of the older homes in Magnolia. Two stylized wings laid in an X pattern were emblazoned boldly over the entrance, serving as the building's crest and name.

"Bunny Girl, I'll get the luggage. You know the drill. Set us up with a room and ask about Communication Lacrima, but make sure to look like you're the brains of this outfit. Let them assume I'm just the muscle. This town isn't right, so keep up your guard."

With a nod to her partner, Lucy went to do her tasks.

Quickly she entered the inn and made a beeline towards the teen staffing the registration counter, noticing the wary look on his long face. Lucy spoke quickly, making sure the teen had no chance to invent enough guests to suddenly have no vacant rooms.

"Hello, I'd like a room for two, preferably a king or queen sized bed. Old man Dot sent us here. He said to tell you that the pansies and cowards tried to leave us out to hang."

_That_ got a reaction. Instantly, the teen's long face twisted from wary concern to bitter rage. In fact, the whole area had gone quiet at Lucy's words. Suddenly the bartender, a petite man with an undercut, broke the stillness her words had created, unleashing a torrent of profanity dirty enough to need a gallon of bleach for decontamination.

Lucy quirked an eyebrow at him, then she turned back to the teen.

"Yeah, we've got a room ready and available. One bed?" He asked carefully, not wanting to accidentally offend.

Lucy bit her lip gently in thought. _'Tempting, but it's too risky with Gajeel being so close to the edge. Besides, Natsu_ fights_ in his sleep. If I can take that, a cuddly, protective, nearly feral Gajeel is well within my limits._'

"Yes, one size, and make it a king size if you can." He nodded. "We've got a room that matches that, no problem. So one room, one king size bed, and breakfast at 8:30 in the morning is included for free. Will you be staying longer than tonight?"

Lucy shook her head. "No, we won't. We will be leaving after breakfast."

Heavy thuds sounded behind her, the now familiar cadence and the slightly intimidated look on the teen's face told her who it was. She slightly turned her head, eyes slanting to look over her shoulder to meet burning red eyes. "Dot came through for us Gajeel. I got us a room and breakfast is included."

A sharp nod acknowledged her words. "Lacrima?" She smiled soothingly at her partner, making sure to maintain a noticeable level of command, but noticing how intently he was keeping the bartender and some of the patrons in his view. "I was just about to ask."

Lucy turned back to the teen. "As my partner here was asking, Mister-" "Zeramuski ma'am." "Zeramuski, would you happen to know if anyone in Trost has a Communication Lacrima? Something came up on our job we need to report to our Guild as soon as we can."

"So you're magi then?" "Yes, we are part of Fairy Tail."

Lucy delicately extended her hand to show her pink mark, proof positive of her claim. Zeramuski carefully extended questing fingers, allowing her ample time to pull away if she desired, before testing the mark's validity. He nodded in acceptance after a quick confirmation and turned to the bar.

"Hey Mr. Rivaille, do you think Miss-" "Lucy. Lucy Heartfilia" "Miss Lucy can borrow a Lacrima in the morning?"

Lucy turned to eye the bartender, watching his flat, impassive grey eyes. He stared back, and somehow Lucy just _knew_ this man was one of the most dangerous she had met in a long, long time. She could almost feel the intangible pressure he was exerting on her; he wanted to intimidate her.

But Lucy firmed her spine and refused to look away. She didn't need to see the bloodthirsty, shit-eating grin splitting Gajeel's face to know it was there, making him look closer to Black Steel Gajeel, to know her defiance had put it there.

She had her partner at her side, a host of Celestial Spirits willing to dismember her enemies, and her Guild had proven they were more than willing to slay monsters for her. This Rivaille was a very, very dangerous man, but he wasn't going to be a man Lucy feared.

Rivaille suddenly smirked, and Zeramuski behind her let out a stuttering gasp. "That's some fucking nerve you've got there. I'll get you a Lacrima, and you'll come to the bar at 8:15 to use it. If you're late, you don't get to use it."

Lucy smiled sweetly, nodded, took the key out of Zeramuski's frozen hand, and began making her way to the hallway that would lead to their room. After walking out of the utterly still common area, and after making it into the relative privacy of their room, Lucy swayed into Gajeel's steady arms. _Holy shit that was __intense._

"Gihihi! Where've you been hiding that spine made of fucking diamond Blondie? I've never seen ya like that, not even when you started being defiant with me back then."

Lucy groaned and happily let Gajeel support most of her weight. Her legs felt like boiled noodles right now and she couldn't stop the minute tremble wracking her frame.

"Hell if I know! Damn, that man was intimidating. He could've given Lullaby lessons on how to emitting palpable menace! But, god, I felt pretty damn invincible there for a couple minutes, knowing I had you and my Spirit backing me up, and that the Guild would raze Trost if he _did_ do something."

Gajeel had to hand it to her. Lucy hadn't let any of her uncertainty show until he was the only one who would see her vulnerable. "Gihi. Still impressive Lucy."

After he said that, they got ready for bed. Gajeel checked the bathroom for windows before announcing, "There isn't any windows in the bathroom, so we don't need to stay in the bathroom together. I'll guard the door to the hallway while you bathe Blondie, then you'll do the same for me. But keep the bathroom door open so it doesn't muffle any sounds. Just 'cause there isn't a window doesn't mean some jackass won't bust through the walls to get at us."

While not particularly pleased with the precautionary measures they needed to take, Lucy complied with Gajeel's demands; though she still took a quick shower instead of that bath she wanted. Both of them changed into sleepwear in the bathroom once they were clean, and quickly climbed into bed.

Lucy blushed a little at herself for automatically snuggling into Gajeel's embrace, but she was too tired to question herself about her actions.

Within ten minutes they were both fast asleep.

* * *

><p>Morning rolled around and Gajeel woke to the smell of breakfast drifting on the air. Uneasy, he opened his eyes and glanced about the room.<p>

_Where's- Oh. Lucy's still next to me. _Well, more like curled into his embrace while body partially covered hers; schematics really, no import to be placed on it at all.

_Fuck. I'm terrible at lying to myself. But now I know why I woke up. Lucy's still here and I knew something was different because I smelled food._

Inwardly, Gajeel shrugged. Wouldn't kill him nor Lucy to wake up a little early. "Oi. Lucy, wake up. Fuckin' bartender won't wait, remember?"

Lucy moaned and buried her face into his chest, causing him to blush. Sometimes it was a curse to have such a sexy teammate, and Gajeel needed her up before his body made this situation too awkward for words. With that, he pinched her side; hard enough to make the skin cherry red, but not bruising.

Lucy woke immediately with a shrill squeal, flailing about wildly as she sought out who pinched her. "You're up. Good. Hurry up and get dressed, we need to get to the bar in time."

She glared at him fiercely. "Jackass." With that she socked him hard in the gut for her revenge. Gajeel let out a little wheeze to appease her, both of them knowing she didn't actually harm him. Grumbling, Lucy kicked off the blankets and got into her luggage. She decided to go with a cute, sexy shirt with sensible shorts and shoes, sighing as she passed over her miniskirts and heels.

Lucy longed to wear her usual outfits, but even she could realize that sexy outfits had to come after practicality. She and Gajeel might make a strong partnership, but there was only the two of them for now. There wasn't another Guildmember to watch their backs and they had bounty hunters after them. Maybe, if she stuck with Gajeel after this mission, and Pantherlily came along, Lucy would go back to her sexy outfits. But until then, practical, but sexy, was her new outfit of choice.

After Gajeel came out of the bathroom dressed and ready to go, Lucy scuttled in and rushed through her morning ablutions. She was out ten minutes later and a quick look at the clock in the room said the time was eight o'clock. After checking the room for any of her possession and packing up, Lucy asked, "Ready to go?"

"Yeah. Let's get to the bar. Fucking shorty doesn't strike me as the patient type."

A shudder tried to go down Lucy's back at the casual mention of Rivaille. Whether or not she'd been stupidly brave last night, Lucy did not want to potentially have to stare him down again. Petite man or not, Lucy would rather fight a fully powered-up Deliora completely nude and without her Keys within five miles of her position than actively attempt to antagonize Rivaille.

Lucy thought to herself_, I don't need to know Rivaille to know he's one vicious, ruthless, _efficient_ bastard. Something about him just screams he could cut me into fine ribbon before I could even uncoil my whip._

But Rivaille had the Lacrima, so Lucy couldn't ignore the man and hope he'd ignore her in return.

Lucy gave her luggage to Gajeel and led the way again. They had decided to let Gajeel look like he'd more muscles than brains days ago, but Lucy couldn't help wanting to let him take the lead. She wasn't used to being a leader, because the thought of trying to take the leadership from Ezra made her feel chills go down her spine.

When they entered the common area, it was pretty much deserted. No one manned the counter and none of the tables were set. But Rivaille was waiting for them with the promised Lacrima sitting on the bar itself.

"You're early. Good. Here's the Lacrima." Rivaille made no move to leave to give them privacy, and since he had already threatened to take away the Lacrima neither of them were going to risk it by demanding he leave them to their call.

Gajeel narrowed his eyes at the shorter man, too used to casually projected lethality from Phantom Lord to be bothered by it like Lucy. He did _not _like how the man eyed his partner with a speculative glint

_Fuck. Lucy might have proven last night she has the insane guts Fairy Tail requires of its magi, but she also caught his attention. Fucking bastard can't take his eyes off her now apparently._

Lucy, he noticed, seemed to almost challenge the bartender by her obstinate refusal to let him intimidate her. Gajeel angrily watched how Rivaille's eyes brightened at her continuing defiance, and Lucy was too preoccupied by the Lacrima to notice.

"Hello, Fairy Tail? Mirajane? Master?" The Lacrima subtle glowed, showing it was working, but it took five minutes for someone to answer.

"Lucy? How'd you get a Lacrima and why're ya callin' so early?" "Cana! Where's Mirajane or the Master? I need to speak to one of them immediately."

The card mage was clearly blitzed out of her mind, but at least she was coherent enough to answer the Lacrima. Gajeel scowled in impatience.

"They're not here, _hic_! Could record a message for ya though, with one of my cards." Lucy sighed and looked at him questioningly. Begrudgingly he nodded, but reminded himself to speak to Lucy about not breaking appearances later.

"It'll have to do. Please record what I say Cana and let Master hear the recording as soon as you can. Master, someone's put a bounty out on our heads for safe, live capture. Each of us has a price over five million jewels, and we've already had to deal with bounty hunters. Gajeel thinks it's because of our mission, but we don't know. We need you to look into this and see what you can do to get our necks off the chopping block okay?

We're calling from Trost, and we're leaving immediately, so don't bother trying to call back. We'll be moving quickly to make sure no one catches up to us. Bye then!"

Cana smiled sloppily and waved a card in front of her face. "Got it all here Lucy. Master'll get this first thing!" The Lacrima went dark as Cana cut off her end of the link.

"Why the fuck do you have a fucking bounty on your head Ms. Heartfilia?"

Gajeel, not liking how the shorter man was acting, answered for her this time.

"If we fucking knew why, we would've told our Guildmate. These fucking bounties came out of nowhere and didn't even exist last week. And it's none of your fucking business anyways. We'll be gone within an hour, and we _won't_ be coming back through Trost you fucking midget."

When Rivaille's normally impassive grey eyes narrowed, his mouth pinched, and he shoved his face up to collide with Gajeel's like Natsu and Gray did right before brawling, Lucy knew she was in for it.

_Please God, let me make it out of Trost in one piece with Gajeel relatively intact!_


End file.
